Titan
Titan (or Saturn VI) is the largest moon of Saturn, and the sixth ellipsoidal moon from Saturn. Frequently described as a planet-like moon, Titan has a diameter roughly 50% larger than Earth's moon and is 80% more massive. It is the second-largest moon in the Sol System, after Jupiter's moon Ganymede, and it is larger by volume than the smallest inner planet, Mercury, although only half as massive. Titan was the first known moon of Saturn, discovered in 1655 by the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens. Titan is the largest entity in the Saturnian Confederation in both population and economy. Titan was originally a joint colony of Brazil and South Korea until its independence in 2206. Titan, as part of the Saturnian Confederation, is a full member world of the United Federation of Planets. Titan also hosts the Starfleet Advanced Flight School. Geography Titan has a core composed of rocky, silicate material surrounded by layers of high pressure ice. It's core is still warm, heated mostly through tidal flexing from Saturn, and allows for a 'magma' layer of liquid water/ammonia, which is sandwiched between the high pressure ices below and a less dense, surface layer of ice above. This allows the surface to be decoupled from the interior. Titan orbits Saturn once every 15 days and 22 hours. Like the Earth's moon and many of the other gas giant satellites, its orbital period is identical to its rotational period; Titan is thus tidally locked in synchronous rotation with Saturn, and thus always shows one face to the planet. Because of this, there is a sub-Saturnian point on its surface, from which the planet would appear to hang directly overhead. Called the Stuckplow, longitudes on Titan are measured westward from the meridian passing through this point. History Titan was originally a joint colony of Brazil and South Korea, initially settled in 2142, until it became independent in 2206, and together with the smaller colonies on Saturn's asteroidal moons, formed the Saturnian Confederation in 2231. Titan, as part of the Saturnian Confederation, became a full member world of the United Federation of Planets in 2292. Early Exploration and Colonization In 2051, shortly before the start of World War III, the United States, Russia and the European Union launched a manned mission from Earth to Saturn, led by Shaun Geoffrey Christopher. The mission was essentially abandoned by Earth upon the outbreak of conflict. Unfortunately, the mission had just completed its final flyby of Earth in the last slingshot maneuver on it's way to Saturn. Christopher and his crew of four could no longer abort the flight. Five years later, they entered orbit of Saturn and on April 14th, 2058, landed on Titan. Although forgotten by Earth, Christopher and his crew continued their scientific mission, conducting many investigations into the geology and climate of Titan. In late 2059, while performing routine diagnostics of their return vehicle in preparation of their upcoming launch, the mission engineer, Pierre Girard, suffered a stroke and caused an accident resulting in the failure of of the vehicle's ignition systems. Although repairable, the mistake would force the crew to miss their first launch window. In 2060, Christopher and his remaining three crewmembers launched from Titan. Earth had still not re-established permanent contact with the mission at this time, but radio communications between the mission and Russia had taken place two days before the launch and two weeks after launch. However, there was no additional contact with the mission after that date. The mission never returned to Earth and no wreckage has ever been found. It is theorized that the return vehicle miscalculated its flyby trajectory of Jupiter and broke up in its atmosphere. The surface of Titan is composed mostly of solid ice and liquid hydrocarbons, and its atmosphere is composed mostly of nitrogen and methane. As a result, it is one of the richest source of volatiles in the Sol System. However, the surface of Titan is quite poor in metals and silicates. Category:Moons Category:Federation Members Category:Saturnian Confederation